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[1/4] Smoke rises as a wildfire burns at Dadia National Park in the region of Evros, Greece, August 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A wildfire burning in northeastern Greece for 11 days has destroyed an area larger than New York City, the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Tuesday, as firefighters from five countries battled to contain the flames. New York City takes up 778.2 square kilometres (300.5 square miles). Panagiota Maragou, head of conservation at the Greece division of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said at least 30% of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost to flames. Thanks to its high biodiversity, the national park was "one of the most important protected areas in Greece and also in Europe, perhaps also on an international scale", she said.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Copernicus, Jiri Nemcik, Maragou, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, We've, Karolina Tagaris, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Twitter, Emergency Management Service, New York City, . Aircraft, World Wildlife Fund, of, Thomson Locations: Evros, Greece, New York City, Alexandroupolis, New York, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Albania, Czech, Soufli, Europe, Athens, Turkey

☆ Greece battles Europe's deadliest fire of the summer for 10th day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] View of a burned forest following a wildfire, near the village of Avantas in the region of Evros, Greece, August 28, 2023. The fire which began near the city of Alexandroupolis has raged uncontrolled in northeastern Greece's Evros region, turbocharged by near-gale force winds and high temperatures. All but one of the victims killed so far were irregular migrants hiding in the forest. Scores of people have had to flee their homes across Greece as hundreds of wildfires erupted across the country in the second major fire outbreak of this summer. In July, some 20,000 foreign tourists were evacuated from the island of Rhodes where a wildfire burned resorts and hotels.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Pavlos Marinakis, Marinakis, Karolina Tagaris, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Copernicus, Service, Civil, Thomson Locations: Avantas, Evros, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Greece's Evros, Athens, Rhodes

CNN —Greek authorities have arrested dozens of people on arson-related charges as deadly wildfires – the largest ever recorded in the European Union – rage across the country. Wildfires in Mount Parnitha, north of the Greek capital Athens, are still out of control Friday, with more forest destroyed overnight. The biggest fire front line in Greece remains near the northeastern town of Alexandroupolis, in the Evros region. Alexandros Avramidis/ReutersGreek police have made 79 arson related arrests, Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told public broadcaster EPT Friday. Across Greece, wildfires have burned through 1.3 billion square meters (130,000 hectares) so far, an EU record, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Persons: AMNA, Alexandros Avramidis, Pavlos Marinakis, Vassilis Kikilias, ” Kikilas, Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, “, ” Lenarčič, CNN’s Organizations: CNN, European, Reuters, EPT, Justice, European Union, Crisis Management, EU Locations: Mount Parnitha, Athens, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Evros, Dadia, Turkey, Avantas, Parnitha

☆ Europe’s summer of extremes triggers health warnings, nuclear output fears and shipping disruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Europe's protracted battle with extreme weather conditions comes shortly after official data showed July was the hottest month in history. To be sure, the climate emergency — which is primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels — is making extreme weather and its impacts more frequent and more intense. People stand at an overflooded petrol station in Gjovik on August 11, 2023 after extreme weather with heavy rain hit south-east Norway. This gives us the long-term context for the increasing occurrence and severity of such extreme weather and extreme events." On the same day, France issued an extreme heat warning for four regional departments in the southern regions of Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire.

Persons: Angelos Tzortzinis, Alvaro Silva, Heiko Junge, Silva, Christophe Archambault, Nero, sweltering, Fabrice Coffrini Organizations: Sikorsky, Afp, Getty, EDF, Turkish, Meteorological Organization, Firefighters, Reuters Locations: Acharnes, Athens, Europe, Greece, French, Italy, Norway, Gjovik, Alexandroupolis, France, Rhone, Drome, Ardeche, Haute, Loire, Bordeaux, Sardinia, Dardanelles, Switzerland

☆ Wildfire rages near Athens for second day, forcing more evacuations
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ATHENS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of firefighters struggled overnight to contain a wildfire on the outskirts of Athens, forcing more evacuations as authorities warned the risk of new blazes was high across the country on Wednesday. Twenty people have been killed since fires erupted in northern Greece on Saturday and quickly spread, fanned by gale force winds in the second major outbreak of the summer. A fire near the village of Fyli on the foothills of Mount Parnitha, some 25 km (15 miles) north of Athens, spread towards the town of Menidi, where about 150 people had to be evacuated from three nursing homes, a local official said. "We kept the fire away from homes," Stathis Topalidis, deputy mayor of Menidi, told state broadcaster ERT on Wednesday. [1/5]A satellite image shows an overview of wildfires in Alexandroupolis, Greece, August 21, 2023.

Persons: Topalidis, Karolina Tagaris, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: ERT, Maxar Technologies, REUTERS Acquire, Volunteers, European Union, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Athens, Greece, Fyli, Mount Parnitha, Menidi, Alexandroupolis, Turkey, East, Asia, Italy, Rhodes

France, which widened its heatwave red alert in the south of the country, said it would scale back production at a nuclear power plant as high temperatures curbed cooling water supply. The strait, linking the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, is a major shipping route for commodities such as oil and grains. It said some areas of southern France would experience temperatures of 42 degree Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit). The authorities widened a heatwave red alert for the south of the country, while officials urged some mountain climbers to postpone their activities and told grape pickers to work in the morning to avoid the extreme heat. Italy issued heatwave red alerts about "emergency conditions" that the health ministry says could endanger the healthy as well as the frail in 17 of its 27 main cities for Wednesday and Thursday, including Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice.

Persons: Firefighters, Vassilis Kikilias, herder, Saint Alban, Karolina Tagaris, Alexandros Avramidis, Ezgi, Zhifan Liu, Forrest Crellin, Nacho Doce, Violeta Santos Moura, Crispian Balmer, Charlie Devereux, Edmund Blair Organizations: Migration Ministry, Residents, Civil, European Union, EDF, Saint, Fundacion Madrina, Firefighters, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Athens, Turkey, Dardanelles, France, Italy, ATHENS, ISTANBUL, Europe, Greece, Menidi, Amygdaleza, Fyli, Alexandroupolis, Evros, East, Asia, Turkey's, Canakkale, Meteo, Spain, Tenerife, Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice

☆ Dozens of patients evacuated as Greece wildfires burn for fourth day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Alexandros Avramidis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Patients of a chronic diseases management foundation get evacuated as a wildfire burns near Alexandroupolis, in the region of Evros, Greece, August 22, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis Acquire Licensing RightsALEXANDROUPOLIS, Greece, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Dozens of hospital patients were evacuated onto a ferry in the Greek port city of Alexandroupolis early on Tuesday, the fire brigade said, as wildfires in the area raged uncontrolled for the fourth day, killing one person. Authorities said 65 patients at the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis had been evacuated by early Tuesday as a precaution onto a ferry in the port. More than 20,000 foreign tourists had to be evacuated from the holiday island of Rhodes in July as wildfires burned for a week, destroying hotels and resorts. Fires were also burned on the island of Evia near Athens, as well as on the island of Kythnos and in Viotia in central Greece.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Ioannis Artopios, Karolina Tagaris, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: REUTERS, Authorities, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Reuters, European Union, Firefighters, Thomson Locations: Alexandroupolis, Evros, Greece, Makri, Turkey, Lefkimi, East, Asia, Rhodes, Spain, Tenerife, Kavala, Dialekto, Evia, Athens, Kythnos, Viotia

☆ Wildfires rage in Greece, Spain and Italy as heatwave spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Alexandros Avramidis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Flames burn a tree as a wildfire rages in Alexandroupolis, on the region of Evros, Greece. Authorities urged residents to avoid the heat as France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere suffered hot, dry and windy conditions that scientists have linked to climate change. WILDFIRES IN SPAIN, ITALYThe blaze has burned through 15,000 hectares in 12 municipalities forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. In France, four southern regions - the Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire - were placed under red alert, the most serious warning. Grape-pickers in wine-producing regions of southern France have been advised to start work on the harvest in the early hours of the morning to avoid sweltering in a late summer heatwave.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, I've, Nikos Gioktsidis, Vassilis Varthakogiannis, AEMET, Alessandro Vitaliano, ANSA, Karolina Tagaris, Dominique Vidalon, Gisela Vignoni, Crispian Balmer, Ingrid Melander, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Flames, REUTERS, Greece Firefighters, heatwave, University Hospital, ERT, Rio Marina, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Alexandroupolis, Evros, Greece, Spain, Italy, Europe, France, Turkey, Tenerife, SPAIN, ITALY, Elba, Rio, Rome, Milan, Florence, Drome, Ardeche, Haute, Loire, Rhone, Alexandropoulis, Athens, Paris

CNN —The burned bodies of 18 people were found as wildfires ripped through Greece on Tuesday and countries across Europe sweltered under yet another extreme heat wave. As dozens of wildfires scorch Greece, other parts of the region are suffering under intense heat, as Europe’s summer of extremes continues. Red heat warningsAs parts of Greece and Spain burn, temperatures are reaching record levels in other parts of Europe. These regions are all experiencing very high temperatures, with some pushing above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Savona, in the northwest, saw an all-time record high of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102.4 Fahrenheit) on Monday.

Persons: Yiannis Artopios, Nikos Gioktsidis, “ I’ve, I’ve, Spyros Bakalis, Alexandroupolis, Dimitris Alexoudis, Artopios, Pedro Sánchez, –, MeteoAlarm, Igor Ferreira, Montbel, Alain Pitton, Aurélien Rousseau, Maximiliano Herrera, Martin, Rousseau, MeteoSchweiz Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Emergency Management Service, Firefighters, Getty, European Union, country’s, BFMTV, Puy St, Northern Locations: Greece, Europe, Athens, Alexandroupolis, Prodromos, AFP, Thrace, Cyprus, Romania, ANMA, Rhodes, Tenerife, Canary, Spanish, Spain, France, Drôme, Haute, Loire, Rhône, Puy, Italy, Savona, Switzerland, Swiss

☆ Deadly wildfires in Greece burn for fourth day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[6/23]Doctors, army personnel and relatives of patients are seen outside a ferry, where patients from the General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis were evacuated, in Alexandroupolis, on the region of Evros, Greece, August 22. REUTERS/Alexandros AvramidisEVROS, GREECE

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis EVROS Organizations: General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, REUTERS Locations: Alexandroupolis, Evros, Greece, GREECE

☆ 18 People Killed in Greek Wildfire May Be Migrants, Authorities Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Niki Kitsantonis | More About Niki Kitsantonis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Greek firefighters recovered the bodies of 18 people on Tuesday who they believe may be migrants in the Evros region of northern Greece, close to the city of Alexandroupolis, where a major wildfire was burning for a fourth day. The charred remains were found near a shack on the border of the Dadia Forest, a spokesman for the Greek fire service, Yiannis Artopios, said in a televised briefing. There have been no reports of missing people in the area, so the authorities said they were examining the possibility that the dead “had entered the country illegally,” Mr. Artopios said. No further details were available about the dead. The Evros region, where the bodies were found, is on the border with Turkey and is a crossing point for thousands of migrants seeking to enter Europe through Greece.

Persons: Yiannis Artopios, “, ” Mr, Artopios Locations: Evros, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Dadia, Turkey, Europe

☆ Major wildfires burn in Greece, Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Efforts to extinguish the wildfires continue with interventions by land and air on the third day in Alexandroupolis, Greece on August 21, 2023. Major wildfires were burning in Greece and in Spain's Canary Islands on Monday, with hot, dry and windy conditions hampering the efforts of hundreds of firefighters battling the blazes. In Greece, authorities said the body of a man was recovered from a sheep-pen in an area in the central Viotia region under evacuation as a wildfire approached. Two firefighters were being treated in a hospital for injuries sustained in a separate fire in the northern Kavala region, the fire department said. Gale-force winds were fanning the flames of dozens of wildfires in several parts of the country, with the northeast particularly hard-hit.

Persons: Gale, Vasilis Kikilias Organizations: European Union, Local, Civil Locations: Alexandroupolis, Greece, Canary, Europe, Viotia, Kavala, Komotini, Orestiada, Evia, Kythnos

☆ Europe endures another year of droughts and wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last year, heatwaves resulted in over 61,600 heat-related fatalities across 35 European countries and triggered devastating wildfires. Below is a list of the most recent blazes and heat-related warnings issued in Europe. Another broke out on Aug. 20 in the southern Hautes-Alpes region of France, burning at least 140 hectares. It was the biggest blaze the region has faced in the last 20 years, media reported. Portugal's authorities declared some 120 municipalities across Portugal at maximum risk of wildfires due to the heat.

Persons: heatwaves, BRGM, Fernando Clavijo, Dina Kartit, Gaëlle Sheehan, Piotr Lipiński, Ed Osmond Organizations: Spanish National Research Council, ITALY, Thomson Locations: Europe, Sicily, France, Perpignan, Alpes, GREECE, Alexandroupolis, Spain, Greece, Rhodes, Corfu, Italy, Sardinia, Rome, Lazio, PORTUGAL, Portugal, SPAIN Tenerife, Canary, La Palma

☆ As fighting rages in Ukraine, the US is sending drones to keep an eye on another tense corner of Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones deployed to Greece during the final weeks of 2022. Operating from Larissa air base, the drones will keep an eye NATO's borders in southeastern Europe. The deployment comes as NATO grapples with the war in Ukraine and with tensions between Turkey and Greece. Predator in the skiesUS Air Force airmen do pre-flight checks on an MQ-9 at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in May. A US Air Force F-15C at Larissa Air Base in May 2021.

☆ Bulgaria in talks with Turkey on long-term gas deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's interim energy minister is in Istanbul on Friday for talks he hopes will lead to a deal this month on long-term access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in neighbouring Turkey and the transit of the gas to its border. The chief executives of Bulgaria's state gas company Bulgargaz and gas network operator Bulgartransgaz are also taking part in the talks as Bulgaria seeks new sources of gas. Russia, which covered over 95% of the Balkan country's gas needs, cut off deliveries to Bulgaria in April after Sofia refused to pay for them in roubles. Bulgaria wants to book capacity at Turkish terminals through 2036 to import 1 bcm of LNG gas a year. Under the energy ministry plans, Bulgaria will cover a third of its gas needs with LNG gas imports through Turkey, one third through the LNG terminal near the Greek city of Alexandroupolis which should become operational in 2024 and one third with Azeri supplies.

☆ Greece gets two binding bids for Alexandroupolis port
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ATHENS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Greece received two binding bids for a majority stake in its northern port of Alexandroupolis, the country's privatisations agency HRADF said on Thursday. The bidders for a 67% stake in the port were Quintana Infrastructure and Development through Liberty Port Holdings Single Member, and International Port Investments Alexandroupolis, a joint venture of Black Summit Financial Group, Euroports, EFA Group and GEK Terna (HRMr.AT), the agency said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe bidders were among four investors that had been shortlisted last year for the sale. In a separate announcement after unsealing their bids on Thursday, the agency said it has asked all three bidders to raise their offers. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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